Presented  by 
William  Bartosh,   D.   0. 


COLLEGE  OF  OSTEOPATHIC  PHYSICIANS 
AND  SURGEONS  •  LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 


iai7TSir^ 


MEDICAL  UNION 
NUMBER  SIX 


By  WILLIAM  HARVEY  KING 

Author  of  — 

My  Smoking  Room   Companion 


Copyright  1904   by 

THE    MONOGRAPH    PRESS 

all  rights  reurved 


Medical  Union  Number  Six 


FROM  the  deck  of  a  steamer  off  Fire 
Island  Light,  homeward  bound, 
on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth  of 
October,  1940,  I  viewed  my  native  land 
for  the  first  time  in  more  than  thirty 
years.  My  long  absence  in  foreign  parts 
had  been  the  result  of  one  of  those  aber- 
rations apt  to  come  to  a  man  who  is  not 
over-well  balanced  and  has  the  inborn 
spirit  of  adventure  and  romance. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury I  was  a  rising  young  physician, 
fairly  well  established  in  conservative 
New  York,  and  with  every  prospect  of  e. 
useful  and  successful  career.  Suddenly 
a  latent  spirit  of  unrest  took  possession 
of  me,  and,  heedless  of  consequences,  I 
plunged  into  a  life  that  made  me  an  alien 
to  my  country  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  Abandoning  my  profes- 
sion and  disposing  of  all  my  property, 
I  left  San  Francisco  on  a  voyage  of  dis- 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

covery.  Far  in  the  Southern  Pacific  I 
sailed  on  a  small  craft  I  had  chartered, 
buoyant  with  the  hope  of  finding  hidden 
treasures,  that  being  the  prime  motive 
of  my  undertaking.  Caught  in  a  ty- 
phoon, so  common  to  that  region,  my 
little  schooner  was  driven  upon  an  is- 
land inhabited  only  by  a  strange  race 
of  wild  people. 

The  sole  survivor  of  the  wreck,  for 
thirty  years  I  remained  with  these  abo- 
rigines, living  in  their  native  way,  and 
shut  off  from  all  communication  with 
the  rest  of  the  world.  But  the  time 
came  when,  after  I  had  long  given  up 
hope  of  ever  seeing  home  again,  I  was  re- 
scued by  a  ship  which  had  been  blown 
from  its  course,  and  was  carried  to  Hong- 
kong. From  there  I  proceeded  east- 
ward through  the  Suez  Canal,  and  finally 
took  passage  on  the  steamer  that  was 
now  bringing  me  back  to  New  York. 

An  hour  after  passing  Fire  Island 
Light  the  pilot  boat  hove  in  sight,  and 
the  pilot  boarded  our  ship,  bringing  with 
him  the  ever-welcome  newspapers.  The 
half-dozen  books  I  had  taken  with  me 
on  my  journey  thirty  years  before,  had 
served  me  well,  as  they  not  only  helped 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

me  to  while  away  much  time  in  reading 
them  over  again  and  again,  but  they 
also  enabled  me  to  retain  my  knowledge 
of  the  English  language.  To  my  sur- 
prise, however,  when  I  succeeded  in 
getting  one  of  the  pilot's  newspapers,  I 
found  in  it  many  words  I  did  not  under- 
stand. My  own  vocabulary  was  not 
only  much  restricted,  as  the  result  of 
non-use,  but  the  English  dictionary 
seemed  to  have  expanded.  Still  further 
was  I  disappointed  in  being  unable  to 
find  a  single  name  that  I  could  recall  as 
at  all  familiar.  In  this  uninteresting 
state  of  affairs  I  soon  fell  to  idly  glancing 
through  the  paper,  reading  here  and 
there  a  headline.  Suddenly  my  eye 
caught  sight  of  the  word  medical  in  the 
large  type  of  a  heading.  Being  thus 
attracted  I  read  the  following  article: 

"Medical  Union  Number  Six. 
A  Notice  to  the  Public. 

"Owing  to  the  great  prevalence  of  ty- 
phoid fever  and  diphtheria  in  the  city» 
and  the  consequent  abundance  of  employ- 
ment for  physicians,  charges  for  medical 
services  at  residences  during  the  hours 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

from  8  A.  M.  to  8  P.  M.  will  be  increased 
from  $10,  present  rate,  to  $15  per  call, 
and  from  8  P.  M.  to  8  A.  M.  from  $20, 
present  rate,  to  $30  per  call.  Further- 
more, it  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  undersigned,  that  many  families,  in 
attempts  to  economize,  are  dispensing 
with  the  use  of  the  physician,  prescribing 
remedies  and  performing  cures  in  their 
own  way.  Before  any  so  discovered 
can  thereafter  on  any  occasion  have  the 
attendance  of  a  physician  they  will  be 
obliged  to  pay  the  regular  fee  which 
would  have  accrued  to  the  Union's 
attendant,  and  will  in  addition  be  fined 
$100.  It  may  be  well  to  remark  in  this 
connection,  by  way  of  a  reminder,  that 
chemists  selling  any  remedy  whatsoever 
to  persons  without  a  doctor's  prescrip- 
tion, are  breaking  the  rules  of  this  or- 
ganization, and  will  be  boycotted  forth- 
with. 

(Signed) 

"MICHAEL  O'BRIEN, 
"SOLOMON  UNTENHEIMER, 
"Riding   Delegates, 

"Medical   Union  Number  Six." 

For  a  moment   I  was  mystified.     I 
could  scarcely  believe  I  had  read  cor- 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

rectly.  I  went  over  the  article  again. 
Sure  enough,  there  it  was  in  the  New 
York  Chronicle,  and  apparently  its 
meaning  was  clear.  As  I  finished  the 
second  reading  I  took  note  of  the  names 
of  the  riding  delegates,  Michael  O'Brien 
and  Solomon  Untenheimer.  They,  at 
least,  had  an  unmistakable  sound;  they 
were  undoubtedly  good  old  New  York 
names.  Especially  had  they  been  fami- 
liar to  me  in  the  past  in  connection  with 
official  positions.  Labor  unions  were 
flourishing  when  I  left  the  country,  but 
is  it  possible,  I  thought,  that  now  the 
medical  profession  has  been  thus  organ- 
ized ?  Turning  to  a  fellow  voyager  who 
had  been  but  a  few  weeks  from  the  coun- 
try, and  pointing  to  the  paragraph,  I 
asked  him  what  it  meant. 

"Mean?"  said  he.  "It  seems  to  me 
its  meaning  is  clear." 

"But  really,"  I  asked,  "is  there  such 
a  thing  as  a  medical  union?" 

He  looked  at  me  in  surprise.  "Where 
have  you  been?"  he  asked.  "The  en- 
tire medical  profession  has  been  union- 
ized for  the  past  twenty  years. " 

"And  do  the  people  submit  to  this?" 
I  inquired. 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"Submit?"  repeated  my  companion, 
"What  else  is  there  for  them  to  do?  As 
for  that,  why  has  not  the  medical  pro- 
fession as  good  a  right  to  form  a  union 
as  any  other  class  of  men?  They  were 
about  the  last  to  withstand  the  great 
popular  wave  that  swept  this  country 
some  years  ago.  The  clergymen  were 
the  only  ones  to  hold  out  longer;  they 
organized  two  years  later." 

"What!"  I  exclaimed.  "The  clergy- 
men too  have  a  union?" 

"See  here,  my  friend, "  said  he,  "what 
have  you  been  doing?  Outsleeping  Rip 
Van  Winkle?" 

"No,"  I  replied,  "I  have  not  been 
asleep  all  this  time,  but  have  been  on  a 
desert  island." 

"Evidently  you  have  been  far  outside 
the  pale  of  civilization,"  returned  my 
companion. 

"Evidently  I  have,"  said  I. 

"I  can  understand,"  said  he,  "that  a 
man  who  has  been  away  from  the  civi- 
lized centers  of  the  world  for  so  many 
years,  will  be  surprised  at  the  advances 
made  during  the  first  half  of  the  twen- 
tieth century.  While  the  Medical  Union 
and  the  Clergyman's  Union,  which  form 

8 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

a  part  of  the  advanced  civilization 
of  this  period,  are  looked  upon  as  a 
matter  of  course  by  the  present  genera- 
tion, there  are  some  older  people  who 
will  sigh  and  tell  you  how  much  better 
things  used  to  be  when  they  were  young; 
when  one  could  choose  the  doctor  he 
liked  best,  a  man  he  could  learn  to  love 
and  respect.  But  in  this  generation  the 
people  have  become  accustomed  to  the 
Medical  Union,  which  sends  the  doctors 
to  them  and  relieves  them  of  all  respon- 
sibility, and  I  think  they  like  it.  In  the 
old  way  we  were  obliged  to  look  about 
for  a  good  doctor  ourselves.  It  was 
more  or  less  of  a  bother.  Now  you  sim- 
ply send  to  the  office,  say  where  you  are 
sick,  and  the  doctor  comes;  you  have 
no  choice  in  the  matter.  It  is  more 
convenient,  and  the  American  people 
think  a  great  deal  of  their  convenience. " 
I  had  not  thought  much  of  what  I 
should  do  to  earn  a  livelihood  when  I 
reached  my  native  land,  but  this  article, 
and  the  conversation  concerning  it, 
brought  the  subject  to  my  mind.  I  well 
knew  I  should  have  to  study  hard  a  long 
time  to  properly  fit  myself  again  to  prac- 
tice medicine,  but  that  I  might  not  be 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

allowed  to  practice  at  all  had  never  oc- 
curred to  me.  The  proposition  now  ap- 
peared quite  different.  Would  I  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  union,  or,  if  not,  would  I 
be  allowed  to  practice  as  a  non-union 
doctor?  That  troubled  me  much. 

After  so  many  years  of  enforced  idle- 
ness I  was  naturally  anxious  to  get  to 
work  at  once,  and  accordingly,  the  day 
after  I  landed  I  began  looking  about  for 
something  to  do.  The  fact  that  I  pos- 
sessed very  little  cash  undoubtedly  had 
much  to  do  with  my  desire  to  find  work 
immediately,  just  as  it  discouraged  me 
from  attempting  to  enter  upon  my  pro- 
fession for  the  present.  As  I  was  walk- 
ing through  Forty-second  Street,  the 
principal  business  thoroughfare  of  the 
city,  my  eyes  fell  on  a  neat  sign  which 
bore  the  inscription,  "Central  Office  of 
Riding  Delegates,  Medical  Union  Num- 
ber  Six. "  Without  pausing  to  consider, 
upon  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  I 
walked  in,  and  asked  to  see  one  of  the 
riding  delegates.  I  was  at  once  shown 
into  Dr.  Michael  O'Brien's  office. 

Dr.  O'Brien  greeted  me  with  chilling 
reserve.  He  was  a  short,  thick-set  man 
with  broad  shoulders,  above  which  was 

10 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

perched  a  very  large  head;  the  neck 
being  short  gave  the  head  the  appearance 
of  having  been  driven  downward  upon 
its  support.  His  brow  projected,  mak- 
ing his  eyes  deep  set,  a  characteristic 
that  was  accentuated  by  the  shading  of 
the  heavy  eyelashes.  His  forehead  was 
full  and  high,  and  his  face,  as  well  as 
his  body,  gave  abundant  evidence  of 
strength. 

"Well, "  said  he,  taking  a  cursory  sur- 
vey of  me,  "what  can  I  do  for  you?" 
!$?•"!  am  a  doctor,"  I  replied,  "out  of 
practice  for  a  time,  but  am  willing  to 
work,  and  work  hard,  to  fit  myself  for 
duty,  if  you  will  give  me  a  chance. " 
'  "The  first  thing  I  should  advise  you  to 
do,"  said  he,  "is  to  get  a  suit  of  clothes 
that  will  fit  you;  and  then  have  your 
whiskers  trimmed  and  hair  cut.  Excuse 
me,  sir,  but  I  should  take  you  for  the 
wild  man  of  Borneo,  rather  than  a 
doctor." 

"The  accuracy  of  your  observation 
does  you  credit,"  I  replied.  "For 
thirty  years  I  was  a  wild  man  on  an  un- 
known island  in  that  part  of  the  world 
in  which  Borneo  is  located." 

"Really,"  said  Dr.  O'Brien,  with  a 

ii 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

look  of  wonderment.     ' '  Sit  down  and  tell 
me  about  it." 

Although  I  gave  quite  a  complete  ac- 
count of  myself,  the  tale  did  not  take 
long  to  tell.  So  stupid  had  my  life  been, 
in  my  own  mind,  at  least,  that  certain 
things  which  might  have  been  of  great 
interest  to  others  seemed  so  trivial  to  me 
that  I  did  not  think  them  worth  men- 
tioning. Dr.  O'Brien  listened  with  mani- 
fest interest  to  my  story,  and  when  I 
had  finished,  he  said: 

"And  after  all  this  amazing  experi- 
ence you  are  anxious  to  settle  down  to 
the  humdrum  life  of  a  physician?" 

"It  does  not  matter,"  I  replied, 
"whether  I  am  anxious  to  settle  down 
to  a  humdrum  life  or  not.  I  must  earn 
a  living." 

"Precisely,"  said  the  doctor.  "I 
suppose  you  are  about  penniless." 

"Your  supposition  hits  the  mark  very 
nearly,"  I  replied. 

"That  being  the  case,"  said  he,  "we 
had  better  try  and  place  you  at  once. 
There  is  a  vacancy  in  Chapter  Seventeen, 
which  is  located  in  the  Harlem  district, 
for  a  night  visiting  man  on  the  chest. 
You  can,  therefore,  go  to  work  at  your 
earliest  convenience." 


12 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"But  I  first  need  to  do  some  study- 
ing," I  replied.  "While  I  have  not  for- 
gotten all  I  learned  a  third  of  a  century 
ago,  I  am  not  prepared  again  to  prac- 
tice without  thoroughly  refreshing  my- 
self on  what  I  did  know,  and  learning 
of  the  advances  which  have  been  made 
since  I  left  the  profession  for  adventure. " 

"Your  fitness  for  practice  matters  not 
so  much, "  said  Dr.  O'Brien.  "An  hour's 
coaching  in  the  back  room  will  prepare 
you  for  that,  so  far  as  medical  knowledge 
is  concerned.  Of  far  greater  importance 
is  it  for  you  to  properly  school  yourself 
in  the  principles  of  the  union.  That  you 
understand  yourself  thoroughly  as  a 
union  man,  and  that  you  make  no  mis- 
take in  strictly  following  out  the  rules, 
is  a  very  important  matter.  Let  me  ask 
you ;  will  you  unreservedly  agree  to  obey 
all  the  rules  of  the  union,  and  abide  by 
the  decisions  of  the  riding  delegates?" 

"  If  I  am  taken  into  the  union, "  said  I, 
"I  shall  feel  in  duty  bound  to  obey  its 
rules,  and,  furthermore,  beggars  cannot 
be  choosers.  However,  having  no  know- 
ledge of  your  union,  I  should  like  to  know 
something  of  its  rules  and  workings  be- 
fore I  unreservedly  give  assent." 

13 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"You  shall  know,"  said  Dr.  O'Brien. 
"Unions  became  a  necessity  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  masses  as  against  the 
classes.  Their  growth  has  been  a  natural 
one,  beginning  first  with  the  artisan  class. 
Having  been  carefully  fostered  under 
the  protection  of  wise  legislation,  they 
have  now  become  the  dominant  force 
of  this  Republic.  As  regards  the  Medi- 
cal Union,  we  have  a  very  complete 
organization  which  comprises  the  entire 
country." 

"Having  been  away,  separated  from 
the  world,  so  long,"  said  I,  "the  idea  of 
a  medical  union  seems  strange  to  me." 

"There  was  great  opposition  at  first," 
said  Dr.  O'Brien.  "  People  did  not  realize 
that  doctors  had  the  same  right  to  form 
combinations,  unions  or  trusts,  which 
ever  you  wish  to  call  them,  as  had  people 
in  other  pursuits.  While  the  majority 
have  come  to  accept  that  principle  now, 
there  are  still  some  who  would  do  away 
with  our  union,  but  you  will  generally 
find  the  ones  most  strongly  opposed  to 
us  are  those  who  are  prominent  mem- 
bers of  some  other  union  or  trust.  The 
American  people  are  very  patient;  you 
can  foist  anything  upon  them  if  you 
only  go  about  it  in  the  right  way. " 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"Do  you  not  have  trouble  in  control- 
ling all  the  doctors,  and  keeping  them  in 
the  union?"  I  asked. 

"Not  at  all,"  replied  Dr.  O'Brien. 
"You  see  we  control  the  output  of  doc- 
tors. We  allow  only  enough  licensed  to 
practice  to  fill  the  places  we  have." 

"But  suppose  one  should  break  away 
from  the  union,  and  set  up  on  his  own 
account?"  I  asked. 

"That  situation  could  be  handled  in 
many  ways,"  said  Dr.  O'Brien.  "For 
instance,  no  person  who  had  once  em- 
ployed a  non-union  doctor  could  ever 
have  a  union  man  treat  him  until  he  had 
paid  into  the  treasury  of  this  union  the 
sums  that  would  have  been  paid  as  fees 
for  attendance  had  a  union  man  been 
called,  plus  $100  fine.  In  the  next  place, 
no  clergyman  would  officiate  at  the 
funeral  where  a  non-union  doctor  had 
been  in  attendance,  so  one  would  have  to 
be  pretty  sure  not  to  die  under  a  non- 
union man  if  he  wanted  a  Christian 
burial.  There  has  always  been  a  great 
bond  of  sympathy  between  clergymen 
and  physicians,  and  this  now  finds  ex- 
pression in  a  very  practical  way  by 
sympathetic  strikes.  While  these  and 

15 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

various  other  expedients  might  be  re- 
sorted to,  the  easiest  way  would  be  to 
kill  the  non-union  doctor. " 

"What,"  I  exclaimed,  "commit  mur- 
der?" 

"  Oh,  no,  not  that  bad, "  said  the  riding 
delegate.  "The  killing  of  a  scab  is  no 
longer  a  crime  in  this  country,  we  have 
become  so  thoroughly  unionized." 

"And  the  legislature  does  not  inter- 
fere," I  asked,  "by  passing  laws  re- 
stricting your  powers?" 

"The  legislature?"  said  Dr.  O'Brien, 
with  a  look  of  disgust.  "  Really,  I  should 
think  you  had  been  out  of  the  country 
for  fifty  years  instead  of  thirty.  Legis- 
lators and  executives  have  always  been 
most  kindly  disposed  toward  unions, 
but  now  it  is  a  very  simple  problem,  so 
far  as  legislation  is  concerned.  The 
legislators  are  all  union  men.  We  would 
not  allow  them  to  be  elected  if  they  were 
not.  But  supposing  one  should  become 
recalcitrant  after  he  has  been  seated. 
Would  we  argue  with  him?  Not  at  all. 
We  would  issue  an  order  that  not  a  man, 
woman  or  child  in  his  district  should  re- 
ceive medical  attendance  until  he  saw 
things  in  the  right  light.  There  would 

16 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

probably  be  a  scourge  in  some  part  of 
his  district,  and  if  perchance  there  were 
not,  we  could  easily  produce  one  by 
sending  a  case  of  smallpox  among  his 
constituents.  That  legislator's  life 
would  not  be  worth  much  if  he  failed  to 
turn  his  sentiments  inside  out,  and  quick, 
too.  But  now,  as  to  your  special  duties. 
You  are  to  take  diseases  of  the  chest. 
Remember  that  means  the  chest  only. 
Above,  your  territory  goes  to  the  lower 
border  of  the  larynx,  or  if  you  do  not 
happen  to  know  just  where  that  is,  say 
the  collar-bone.  Below,  it  goes  to  the 
diaphragm,  or  if  the  location  of  that 
organ  is  a  little  obscure  in  your  mind, 
just  remember  to  the  end  of  the  breast- 
bone. This  includes  both  front  and 
back,  but  be  careful  you  do  not  go  either 
above  or  below  those  boundaries." 

"The  larynx  is  often  involved  in  chest 
diseases,"  said  I. 

"  Certainly, "  replied  Dr.  O'Brien.  "  In 
that  case  the  throat  man  goes  also.  You 
see  formerly,  before  the  days  of  unions, 
one  doctor  attended  both  the  throat  and 
chest,  and  received  no  extra  pay  either. 
Now  the  patient  has  to  pay  for  two  doc- 
tors. It  also  happens  occasionally  that 

17 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

a  cough  upsets  the  stomach.  In  that 
event  the  stomach  doctor  visits  the  case 
with  you,  all  three  getting  fees  at  the 
same  time.  The  advantages  of  union- 
ism are  very  apparent,  are  they  not?' 

"Very  apparent  indeed,"  said  I. 
"But  have  you  no  hospitals?" 

"Plenty  of  them,"  replied  the  doctor, 
"  but  no  more  free  hospitals,  and  no  more 
free  dispensaries.  We  own  them  all. 
If  people  can't  pay,  and  the  tax-payers 
won't  pay  for  them,  why  they  must  die. " 

"Do  you  not  think  it  would  be  better 
for  me  to  go  into  a  hospital, "  I  inquired, 
"where  I  could  better  fit  myself  for  the 
work?  After  graduating  I  spent  a  year 
in  a  hospital  gaining  knowledge  and  per- 
fecting myself  in  technic. " 

"  In  those  days, "  said  Dr.  O'Brien,  "it 
was  necessary  for  a  physician  to  acquire 
as  much  knowledge  as  possible.  People 
had  a  right  to  choose  whatever  doctor 
they  wished,  and  they  always  chose  the 
man  best  prepared,  or  the  man  they 
thought  was  the  best,  but  that  day  is 
past ;  now  we  say  whom  they  shall  have. 
Why,  man,  that  is  the  very  foundation 
principle  of  unionism.  A  good  man 
could  always  have  plenty  to  do.  The 

18 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

function  of  a  union  is  to  make  people  or 
employers  take  the  poor  man  with  the 
good,  and  pay  him  the  same  price,  too. 
The  day  for  invidious  comparisons  by  the 
public  in  selecting  the  good  doctor,  and 
leaving  the  poor  ones  without  employ- 
ment, or  on  reduced  pay,  is  past  in  this 
country,  thanks  to  the  unions.  You  are 
to  be  located  in  Chapter  Seventeen,  the 
office  of  which  is  in  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth  Street.  Your  district  is 
bounded  north  by  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-fifth  Street,  east  by  Fifth  Ave- 
nue, south  by  One  Hundred  and  Fif- 
teenth Street  and  west  by  Seventh  Ave- 
nue. You  are  six  hours  on  duty  and 
eighteen  hours  off." 

41  If  I  should  be  in  a  critical  case  when 
che  time  for  leaving  came  around,"  I 
said,  "I  suppose  I  could  stay  and  see  it 
through.  My  conscience  would  scarcely 
allow  me  to  leave  a  patient  under  such 
circumstances." 

"My  dear  fellow,"  said  Dr.  O'Brien, 
"if  one  thing  more  than  another  is  a 
handicap  to  progress,  it  is  that  con- 
science you  talk  about,  but,  thank 
Heaven,  it  is  getting  to  be  a  scarce 
article  in  this  country.  We  are  six- 

19 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

hour  men,  and  six-hour  men  only.  You 
stop  work  sharp  when  your  time  is  up, 
no  matter  what  may  be  the  situation  or 
what  may  happen.  Do  not  forget  that, 
and  also  remember  the  other  points  I 
have  given  you.  Breaking  a  rule  once 
means  a  fine  of  one  hundred  dollars,  the 
second  time  five  hundred,  and  the  third 
time  expulsion  from  the  union.  If  that 
should  happen  you  had  better  go  in  the 
country  and  break  stone  for  a  living." 
The  office  at  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth  Street  was  different  from  any- 
thing I  had  ever  seen  before.  It  was 
divided  into  two  departments,  one  for 
the  office  doctors,  and  one  for  the  visit- 
ing doctors.  Necessarily  the  office  doc- 
tors required  more  room  than  the  visit- 
ing doctors,  and  each  had  an  office  to 
himself  opening  upon  a  larger  central 
reception  room.  There  was  the  doctor 
for  the  head,  the  throat  and  neck  doctor, 
the  chest  doctor,  the  stomach  doctor,  the 
liver  doctor,  the  doctor  for  the  extremi- 
ties, and  the  brain  and  spinal  cord  doc- 
tor. There  was  also  another  important 
doctor.  It  was  possible  that  a  complica- 
tion might  arise  through  some  man  pre- 
senting himself  with  a  disease  difficult  to 

20 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

classify  properly,  and  as  a  doctor  could 
prescribe  only  within  his  limits,  some  one 
might  have  to  do  without  treatment.  So 
far  as  the  patient  was  concerned  this 
would  not  have  worried  the  riding  dele- 
gates over  much,  but  there  was  the  fee 
to  be  considered.  Therefore,  to  avoid 
the  danger  of  a  doctor's  overstepping  his 
limits,  or  of  a  fee  being  lost,  an  extra 
doctor  was  placed  on  the  list,  and  as- 
signed to  an  office  off  the  reception 
room.  He  was  classified  as  the  jim- 
jams  and  delirium  tremens  doctor,  and 
to  him  all  doubtful  cases  were  sent. 

Visiting  doctors  were  classified  under 
the  same  general  headings  as  the  office 
doctors,  with  the  addition  of  several 
surgeons;  surgeon  of  the  head  and  neck, 
surgeon  of  chest  and  abdomen,  surgeon 
of  extremities,  and  an  anaesthetist.  The 
rooms  were  very  commodious  and  com- 
fortably furnished,  but  as  they  were 
only  for  lounging  purposes,  where  a  man 
could  lie  off  and  take  it  easy  when  he 
was  not  making  calls,  they  did  not  have 
at  all  the  appearance  of  a  doctor's  office. 

Word  that  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  of- 
fice of  Chapter  Seventeen  had  preceded 
me,  and  upon  my  arrival  I  was  at  once 

21 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

asked  to  step  upstairs  to  the  private  office 
of  Dr.  Tobias,  riding  delegate  in  charge 
of  the  chapter,  who  occupied  an  elegant 
apartment  superb  in  all  its  appointments. 
As  I  entered  he  saluted  me,  and  bade  me 
take  a  seat. 

"Ah,"  said  he,  as  he  glanced  at  the 
letter  of  introduction,  "  Dr.  Schneider,  or 
rather  the  wild  man  from  Borneo.  I 
have  had  a  conversation  over  the  'phone 
with  Dr.  O'Brien  about  you;  and  he  is 
chuckling  yet  over  his  hit  on  that. " 

"It  quite  surprised  me,"  said  I. 

"Dr.  O'Brien,"  continued  the  riding 
delegate,  "has  informed  me  that  he  has 
given  you  a  pretty  clear  outline  of  the 
workings  of  our  union,  but  I  want  to  ask 
you  a  few  questions."  Wheeling  his 
chair  around  so  as  to  face  me  and  look- 
ing sternly  into  my  eyes,  he  asked: 
"Who  am  I?" 

"I  take  you  to  be  Dr.  Tobias,  the 
riding  delegate  of  Chapter  Seventeen 
of  Medical  Union  Number  Six, "  I  replied. 

"Exactly,"  said  Dr.  Tobias.  "But 
what  is  a  riding  delegate?" 

"I  suppose  he  is  one  who  has  general 
supervision  over  the  chapter  to  which  he 
is  delegated,"  said  I. 

22 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"General  supervision,  general  super- 
vision, "  repeated  Dr.  Tobias,  in  a  tone  of 
voice,  and  with  a  manner  that  plainly 
showed  how  much  my  answer  had  dis- 
pleased him.  "Am  I  only  the  general 
supervisor  of  Chapter  Seventeen?  Is 
that  your  idea  of  a  riding  delegate?  I 
would  have  you  know  that  I  own  Chap- 
ter Seventeen.  From  my  mouth  comes 
both  the  law  and  gospel  of  Chapter 
Seventeen.  In  fact,  I  am  Chapter 
Seventeen.  If  I  say  to  you,  Dr.  Schnei- 
der, the  moon  is  made  of  green  cheese, 
you  are  to  say,  'Yes,  Dr.  Tobias,  the 
moon  is  made  of  green  cheese.'  Now, 
do  you  understand  what  a  riding  dele- 
gate is?" 

"I  am  certain  I  do,"  I  replied. 

"That  sounds  more  like  it,"  said  Dr. 
Tobias.  "You  will  now  sign  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  union.  This  was  for- 
merly done  at  the  central  office,  but  now 
we  have  it  signed  at  the  office  of  the 
chapter  where  a  man  is  assigned.  One  is 
more  apt  to  keep  its  precepts  in  mind  if 
he  knows  the  document  is  where  it  can 
be  picked  up  and  read  to  him  if  circum- 
stances require."  He  drew  from  a 
drawer  of  his  desk  a  piece  of  paper  par- 

23 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

tially  covered  with  printed  matter,  to 
the  end  of  which  was  attached  a  blank 
form  for  an  oath  to  be  taken  before  a 
magistrate  or  notary.  "Now  I  will  read 
this  oath  to  you,"  he  went  on,  "and 
when  I  raise  my  voice  and  pronounce 
the  words  with  emphasis,  you  just 
tremble  for  fear  you  may  break  that 
part  of  it,  for  while  the  document  is 
short  there  are  portions  of  it  that  mean 
much.  Listen.  This  is  it. 

"'I,  the  undersigned,  on  becoming  a 
member  of  the  Union  of  Confederate 
Doctors  of  the  United  States,  and  at- 
tached to  Medical  Union,  Number  Six, 
do  hereby  solemnly  avow  that  I  fore- 
swear all  other  authority  and  allegiance  I 
have  ever  given  assent  to  that  shall  in 
any  way  conflict  with  the  rules  and 
teachings  of  this  union ;  that  I  shall  here- 
after, and  do  now  place  THIS  UNION  SU- 
PERIOR to  all  allegiance  TO  MY  COUNTRY, 

TO  MY  GOD,  AND  TO  MY  FAMILY;  that  I 
will  be  GOVERNED  BY  ALL  ITS  RULES,  and 
ABIDE  BY  ALL  DECISIONS  OF  THE  RIDING 

DELEGATES,  and  that  I  will  pay  all  dues 
and  assessments  from  that  which  I  have, 

EVEN  THOUGH  THOSE  WHO  ARE  DEPEND- 
ENT UPON  ME  MAY  BE  IN  WANT.'" 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

I  listened  to  the  reading  of  this  docu- 
ment with  some  surprise.  However,  I 
had  no  compunction  in  signing  it,  as  I 
had  been  among  the  savages  too  long  to 
acknowledge  allegiance  to  any  country 
or  any  God.  I  took  note  that  the  paper 
did  not  ask  the  signer  to  go  hungry,  only 
the  family,  and  as  I  was  not  encumbered 
with  a  family,  I  had  no  objection  on  that 
score.  Therefore,  without  comment,  I 
took  up  the  pen  and  signed,  and  sub- 
scribed to  the  oath  which  followed. 

"Do  you  know,"  said  Dr.  Tobias,  "I 
like  your  way  of  doing  business ;  no  ques- 
tions, but  simply  sign.  Such  men  make 
a  good,  strong  union.  While  some  may 
squirm  and  talk  about  the  prick  of  con- 
science, and  allegiance  to  their  Maker, 
and  their  country,  they  all  have  to  sign 
just  the  same,  but  we  never  feel  so  con- 
fident of  them,  for  that  prick  of  con- 
science is  apt  to  make  itself  felt  once  in 
a  while.  I  am  sure  you  and  I  will  get 
on  famously.  For  the  present  you  are  to 
take  Tour  Four.  The  hours  are  from  12 
midnight  to  6  A.  M.,  on  diseases  of  the 
chest.  I  believe  Dr.  O'Brien  gave  you 
all  the  information  required  on  that 
subject." 

25 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"I  think  I  understand  my  duties  so 
far  as  the  union  is  concerned, "  I  replied, 
"but  I  fear  I  am  lamentably  weak  as 
to  my  medical  knowledge." 

"Were  you  not  coached  at  the  central 
office  before  coming  up  here?"  asked  the 
riding  delegate. 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "but  a  man  who  has 
been  out  of  the  world  for  thirty  years 
cannot  absorb  everything  in  an  hour. " 

"That  matters  not  so  much, "  said  Dr. 
Tobias.  "If  you  do  not  know  what  is 
the  matter,  or  what  remedy  should  be 
given,  administer  a  dose  of  morphine, 
enough  to  keep  the  patient  quiet  until 
you  go  off  duty.  You  make  the  call 
and  get  the  fee,  that  is  the  important 
part.  Do  not  become  too  ambitious  to 
cure  your  patients.  Let  the  man  who 
follows  you  have  an  opportunity  to  col- 
lect his  fee.  If  you  cure  patients  too 
quickly,  you  will  make  yourself  very 
unpopular  with  your  brothers  in  the 
union." 

With  these  instructions  I  was  dis- 
missed until  my  hour  for  duty  arrived. 
Returning  to  the  office  about  eleven 
o'clock,  I  sought  out  the  man  whom  I 
was  to  relieve,  and  endeavored  to  learn 

26 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

from  him  what  cases  I  might  be  called  to, 
and  also  the  treatment  he  was  prescrib- 
ing, that  I  might  continue  it  to  the  best 
of  my  ability.  The  doctor  apologized 
for  not  leaving  some  work  for  me.  He 
said  he  had  not  been  informed  that  the 
vacancy  in  Tour  Four  had  been  filled. 
Consequently  he  had  left  word  with  all 
the  patients  that  they  would  be  unable 
to  get  a  doctor  until  after  six  in  the 
morning,  as  there  would  be  no  doctor  on 
duty  for  chest  diseases  until  that  hour. 
He  admitted  that  there  were  several  who 
should  be  seen,  but  the  union  would 
not  permit  him  to  work  overtime. 
Neither  would  it  permit  other  doctors  to 
see  them,  so  he  could  do  no  more. 

Having,  therefore,  nothing  to  do,  I 
lounged  about  the  office,  getting  ac- 
quainted with  my  associates.  I  was 
questioned  much  by  my  colleagues,  as 
they  had  all  heard  more  or  less  of  my 
adventures.  I  was  not  averse  to  talking 
of  my  travels,  but  I  was  more  anxious 
just  at  this  time  to  learn  my  duties.  I 
looked  to  find  a  medical  book  or  medical 
journal  from  which  I  could  glean  some 
information,  but  I  only  found  novels. 
When  I  expressed  surprise  at  this  my 
new  friends  laughed  at  me. 

27 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"  Why,  man, "  one  of  them  said,  "there 
has  not  been  a  medical  journal  published 
in  this  city  for  ten  years.  As  for  medi- 
cal books,  a  few  are  published  for  stu- 
dents, but  they  are  never  read  by  doctors, 
or  perhaps  it  would  be  correct  to  say  sel- 
dom read,  for  occasionally  you  find  an 
ambitious  man  anxious  to  excel.  But 
what  is  the  use?  It  is  all  time  thrown 
away,  for  the  people  are  obliged  to  have 
you  just  the  same.  It  is  not  skill  or 
knowledge  that  gets  you  a  living,  and  life 
is  too  short  to  do  a  lot  of  work,  just  for 
the  satisfaction  of  being  skillful." 

About  4:30  in  the  morning  the  tele- 
phone rang.  A  man  had  been  run  over, 
and  the  person  sending  the  messenger 
said  the  patient  was  suffering  great  pain 
in  the  side  of  his  chest. 

"A  call  for  chest  medical  and  chest 
surgical,"  said  the  clerk. 

Thankful  indeed  was  I  that  my  first 
call  should  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
necessitate  the  presence  of  another  phy- 
sician, for  I  did  not  really  know  how  to 
take  a  case,  let  alone  doctor  it.  On  our 
arrival  we  found  more  than  the  telephone 
message  had  led  us  to  expect.  The  man 
had  been  run  over,  as  stated,  and  he  also 

28 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

had  a  severe  pain  in  the  side  of  the  chest 
which  was  evidently  due  to  a  broken  rib, 
the  broken  end  sticking  into  the  pleura. 
Of  far  more  threatening  consequence, 
however,  was  a  crushed  leg  which  was 
beyond  the  power  of  surgery  to  save  and 
required  amputation  at  once.  The  chest 
surgeon,  of  course,  could  not  do  this.  As 
considerable  blood  was  oozing  from  the 
mangled  limb,  I  suggested  that  we 
tighten  the  bandage  which  some  one 
had  put  around  the  groin  to  stop  the 
hemorrhage. 

"No,  no, "  said  the  chest  surgeon,  "we 
will  telephone  for  the  extremity  surgeon. 
We  have  no  right  to  touch  that  part." 

"But  that  may  be  necessary  to  save 
the  man's  life,"  I  suggested. 

"Perhaps,"  said  the  chest  surgeon, 
"but  if  tightening  the  bandage  is  the 
only  thing  that  will  save  his  life,  so  much 
the  worse  for  the  man,  as  we  cannot  do 
it.  Every  new  man  who  comes  into  the 
union,  especially  if  he  be  an  old  prac- 
titioner, gets  into  trouble  by  interfering 
with  things  that  do  not  belong  to  him.  I 
will  set  the  broken  rib,  you  prescribe  an 
opiate,  and  by  that  time  the  extremity 
surgeon  will  be  here  ready  to  amputate 
the  limb." 


29 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

It  was  five  o'clock  before  the  extremity 
surgeon  was  ready  to  begin  work.  Just 
as  the  patient  was  being  put  under  the 
anaesthetic  the  surgeon  glanced  at  his 
watch. 

"I  will  not  have  time  to  finish  the 
amputation  and  dress  the  wound,"  said 
he,  "so  telephone  to  the  office  and  ask 
the  extremity  surgeon  of  Tour  One  to 
come  here." 

"  Cannot  a  surgeon  finish  an  operation 
he  has  begun?"  I  asked  the  chest  sur- 
geon. "It  seems  to  me  he  should  not 
leave  when  he  has  once  started  in  with  it, 
even  though  his  time  limit  is  passed.  I 
should  think  it  might  be  dangerous  to 
turn  over  a  partly  finished  operation  to 
another." 

"I  see  you  have  much  to  learn  about 
our  union,"  said  my  companion.  "To 
work  overtime  is  breaking  an  important 
rule.  A  surgeon  operating  near  the 
time  limit  should  be  careful  not  to  have  a 
hemorrhage,  or  any  other  dangerous 
complication,  on  his  hands  as  the  clock 
strikes,  but  if  he  should,  why  it's  unfor- 
tunate for  the  patient.  I  do  not  see  that 
you  carry  a  watch,"  looking  at  me. 
"You  should  have  one,  and  a  good  one, 

30 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

too,  for  having  the  wrong  time  is  no 
excuse,  and  will  not  save  you  from  the 
wrath  of  the  riding  delegate. " 

"No,"  said  I,  "  I  have  no  watch.  I 
shall  buy  one  the  very  first  money  I  get, 
as  I  need  it  to  count  the  pulse  with." 

"  It  doesn't  matter  much  if  you  do  not 
count  the  pulse,"  said  my  companion, 
"but  you  must  have  a  watch  so  as  to 
make  sure  that  you  do  not  overrun  the 
time  limit.  I  have  an  extra  one,  and 
will  loan  it  to  you  for  a  few  days  until 
you  get  on  your  feet. " 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  learn  the 
rules  of  the  union  and  to  become  imbued 
with  its  principles  as  well.  At  first  I 
feared  lest  my  lack  of  knowledge  of  its 
workings  or  my  sympathy  might  get 
me  into  trouble,  but  after  the  Strong  case 
which  came  along  about  four  weeks 
after  I  had  entered  upon  my  duties  in 
Chapter  Seventeen,  and,  later,  a  little 
experience  I  had  with  the  riding  delegate, 
I  acquired  confidence  in  myself,  and  had 
a  feeling  of  security  in  my  position. 

The  Strong  affair  tried  me  severely. 
It  was  a  case  of  bronchitis,  the  patient 
being  a  bright  little  boy  of  some  ten 
years,  the  only  child  of  well-to-do  par- 

31 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

ents.  He  did  not  show  signs  of  improve- 
ment under  treatment.  On  the  fourth 
day  the  inflammation  worked  upwards, 
and  when  I  made  a  visit  just  before  my 
time  to  go  off  duty,  I  found  the  house- 
hold in  a  great  state  of  excitement.  The 
mother  met  me  at  the  door. 

"Oh,  doctor,"  she  exclaimed,  "why 
have  you  been  so  long  coming?  I  tele- 
phoned for  you  more  than  an  hour  ago. " 

I  informed  Mrs.  Strong  that  I  had 
been  away  from  the  office  for  some  time 
and  had  consequently  not  received  her 
message,  and  that  I  had  simply  called  on 
my  way  back,  as  I  had  intended  doing 
when  I  last  saw  the  child. 

"Come  quick  to  the  room,"  she  ex- 
claimed. "I  fear  Georgie  is  dying." 

Even  by  this  time  I  had  learned  that 
it  was  not  a  union  principle  to  hurry,  so, 
therefore,  I  took  it  rather  leisurely.  Be- 
fore I  entered  the  room,  however,  I  dis- 
covered that  I  could  be  of  no  assistance, 
as  the  sound  of  the  hoarse.harsh  cough 
which  emanated  from  it,  plainly  told  me 
that  my  little  patient  was  suffering  from 
an  attack  of  croup,  a  disease  distinctly 
located  in  the  larynx,  and,  therefore,  en- 
tirely out  of  my  region  of  treatment. 

32 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"Oh,  doctor,  hurry,  please,"  cried  the 
mother.  "  It  does  not  seem  that  Georgie 
can  get  his  breath  five  minutes  longer." 

"Madam,  I  am  very  sorry,"  said  I, 
"but  you  should  know  that  I  cannot 
treat  a  case  of  croup.  That  is  not  a 
chest  disease,  but  is  located  in  the  larynx. 
You  must  send  for  the  throat  doctor." 

"But,  doctor,"  she  exclaimed,  "you 
will  not  stand  by  and  see  my  child  die? 
Have  you  no  medicine  you  can  give 
him?" 

"Yes,  madam,"  I  replied,  "I  have 
medicine  in  plenty,  but  to  treat  the 
case  is  strictly  against  the  rules  of  the 
union.  You  must  try  and  get  the 
throat  doctor." 

"Oh,  doctor,"  she  cried,  dropping  on 
her  knees  before  me,  "you  wouldn't  be 
so  cruel  as  to  let  my  Georgie  die  without 
trying  to  save  him,  would  you?" 

"  I  am  very  sorry,  as  I  told  you, "  said 
I,  "but  I  can  do  nothing." 

Putting  her  hands  pleadingly  toward 
me,  she  cried  out,  "For  God's  sake,  doc- 
tor, do  something  to  save  my  boy.  Have 
you  children?  Do  you  know  what  it  is 
to  have  a  dear  little  fellow  nestle  up  to 
you  in  love  and  confidence?  Do  you 

33 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

know  what  it  is  to  have  the  sweet  kiss 
of  pure  love  from  a  child  you  have  given 
life  to?  Did  you  ever  have  a  child  suf- 
fering or  frightened  give  you  an  appeal- 
ing look  for  relief  and  for  protection? 
Did  you  ever  feel  your  paternal  heart- 
strings torn  by  the  agony  and  suffering 
of  one  dearer  to  you  than  life  itself? 
Look  at  my  boy,  my  darling  Georgie,  as 
he  is  suffering,  struggling  for  life. 
Doesn't  the  sight  pierce  your  heart? 
Doesn't  it  bring  up  to  you  what  might 
happen  in  your  family,  and  doesn't  it 
stir  the  humanity  within  you  enough  to 
move  you  to  take  the  consequences,  to 
try  and  save  him?" 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  situation.  I 
realized  I  was  in  danger,  and  that  my 
first  great  trial  as  a  union  man  was  at 
hand.  Should  I  be  loyal  to  the  union, 
and  consequently  loyal  to  my  own  inter- 
ests, or  should  I  follow  the  dictates  of 
conscience,  the  greatest  of  all  sins 
against  a  union?  The  struggle  was  only 
momentary.  I  thought  of  my  oath.  I 
thought  of  my  present  prosperous  con- 
dition. I  had  a  vision  of  going  into  the 
country  and  cracking  stone,  as  Dr. 

34 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

O'Brien  had  put  it.  I  was  a  union  man, 
and  must  be  inflexible. 

Mrs.  Strong  was  still  on  her  knees 
with  her  hands  stretched  out  nearly  to 
my  face,  with  a  pleading  look  on  her 
countenance,  waiting  for  an  answer.  It 
made  me  shiver  every  time  I  looked 
toward  her,  and  so,  to  avoid  temptation, 
I  kept  my  eyes  turned  away.  However, 
I  was  aware  that  she  knew  a  struggle 
was  going  on  within  me,  and  I  actually 
felt  the  fervor  of  her  prayers  for  the  soft- 
ening of  my  heart  to  that  degree  that  I 
would  disobey  the  union's  orders  and 
prescribe  for  her  boy.  I  realized  that  I 
must  do  something  to  shatter  her  hopes, 
and  break  the  power  she  was  trying  to 
exert  over  me.  So  I  remarked  in  as 
cold  and  matter-of-fact  manner  as  I 
could : 

"Madam,  I  am  not  a  family  man." 

As  I  said  this  I  glanced  at  her.  The 
shock  nearly  prostrated  her.  But  she 
quickly  recovered,  and,  with  still  more 
pleading  in  her  voice,  cried: 

"But  you  must  have  had  a  mother, 
even  though  you  have  had  no  children. 
Do  you  not  remember  nestling  in  that 
mother's  arms?  Do  you  not  remember 

35 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

the  many  sweet  caresses  she  gave  you? 
Can  you  not  recall  how  you  clung  to  her 
when  you  were  sick?  And  can  you  not 
now  see  her  loving  face  as  she  bent  over 
you,  sympathized  with  you  and  caressed 
you ?  Oh,  man,  turn  your  head  Heaven- 
ward, and  see  if  you  cannot  behold  her 
angel  face  looking  down  upon  you  to- 
night, and  in  that  look  urging  you  to 
soften  your  heart,  to  do  your  duty  to 
your  fellow  creature.  See  if  there  is  not 
a  pleading  in  her  countenance,  the  plead- 
ing of  a  mother,  'My  son,  be  a  man.' " 

Union  principles  were  in  danger  of 
giving  way  in  my  mind.  Iron-bound 
rules  were  losing  their  grip  on  me.  In- 
voluntarily I  put  my  hands  to  my  head 
as  if  to  support  my  reason.  My  frame 
shook  under  the  strain  that  was  upon 
me.  The  mother's  trembling  hands 
came  nearer  to  me,  and  her  pleading 
looks  pierced  me  like  daggers.  A  sav- 
ing, desperate  thought  came  to  me. 

"I  will  get  permission  from  the  riding 
delegate, "  said  I,  and  that  I  might  escape 
that  look  as  soon  as  possible  I  rushed 
downstairs  to  the  telephone  and  called 
up  the  office.  The  clerk  answered. 

"There  is  a  child  here  dying  of  croup, " 

36 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

I  said.  "Can  the  throat  man  come  at 
once?" 

"The  throat  man  is  here, "  replied  the 
clerk,  "but  it  is  now  fifteen  minutes  of 
six,  his  leaving  time,  and  it  would  be 
after  that  hour  before  he  could  get  to  the 
case,  so  he  could  not  prescribe  if  he  was 
there.  I  will  send  the  throat  man  of 
Tour  One  as  soon  as  he  comes  in." 

"But,"  said  I,  "the  child  will  die  be- 
fore that  time.  Will  not  the  riding  dele- 
gate give  me  permission  to  prescribe  for 
the  patient?" 

"The  riding  delegate  is  not  in,"  re- 
plied the  clerk,  "and  he  certainly  would 
not  give  you  permission  if  he  were.  See 
here,  Schneider,"  he  continued,  "you 
are  in  danger.  Like  all  new  men  who 
haven't  become  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  principles  of  the  union,  you  let  your 
kindness  of  heart  outweigh  your  own  in- 
terests and  all  our  interests.  You  say 
the  child  will  die.  That  is  probably  true, 
and  you  are  very  much  excited  about  it. 
But  that  is  no  business  of  yours.  Think 
of  our  union  and  what  it  means  to  you. 
I  give  you  this  advice  as  I  know  you  are 
a  new  man,  and  I  understand  your  dan- 
ger. After  you  have  been  in  the  union 

37 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

a  few  months  more,  such  things  will  not 
bother  you." 

"But  it  seems  cruel,"  said  I,  "to  let 
that  child  die  with  the  agonized  mother 
pleading  for  help." 

"What  is  one  child,"  said  the  clerk, 
"compared  to  the  principles  of  our 
union?  Why,  man,  just  think  for  a  mo- 
ment of  the  thousands  and  thousands 
of  children  who  have  died  of  starvation 
in  agonized  mothers'  arms  for  the  prin- 
ciples of  unionism  in  this  country.  I 
say  to  you  again,  be  strong,  and  think  of 
the  consequences  to  yourself.  Just  re- 
call Dr.  Butterworth  and  his  fate.  It 
will  help  you  in  your  resolution." 

I  put  up  the  telephone  receiver  and 
slowly  retraced  my  steps.  I  recalled  Dr. 
Butterworth,  and  the  thought  of  his  fate 
caused  chills  to  run  up  my  back.  He 
was  a  stomach  doctor.  His  first  offense 
was  for  prescribing  for  a  patient  suffering 
from  a  severe  pain  in  the  right  hypogas- 
tric  region.  It  was  a  case  that  plainly 
belonged  to  the  liver  doctor.  According 
to  the  rules  of  the  union  Dr.  Butterworth 
was  fined  one  hundred  dollars.  His  next 
offense  was  for  extracting  from  the 
larynx  a  thimble,  that  a  child  had  at- 

38 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

tempted  to  swallow  and  that  was  strang- 
ling the  little  one  to  death,  a  case  that 
surely  belonged  to  the  throat  doctor.  He 
was  promptly  fined  five  hundred  dollars. 
The  third  offense  was  for  doing  the 
identical  thing  I  was  just  now  in  danger 
of  doing,  prescribing  for  a  child  dying 
of  croup.  Thereupon  he  was  expelled 
from  the  union.  Being  a  man  of  an  in- 
dependent, unyielding  character,  he  con- 
tinued to  treat  the  child  whose  life  he 
had  saved,  when  on  the  second  day  he 
was  found  dead  on  the  very  block  where 
he  had  committed  such  crimes  against 
the  union.  As  no  clergyman  would  of- 
ficiate at  his  funeral,  and  no  undertaker 
would  take  charge  of  the  remains,  and  no 
grave  digger  would  dig  a  grave  for  him, 
his  body  was  dumped  into  the  potter's 
field  with  the  paupers  and  criminals. 

"Oh,  no,"  I  said  to  myself,  as  I  en- 
tered the  room  again.  "I  will  not  be 
caught  in  any  such  trap.  I  will  be 
strong,  as  the  clerk  has  advised  me  to  be. 
Conscience  and  kind-heartedness  were 
good  things  to  have  when  I  first  began 
practice.  They  were  good  for  business 
then,  but  now  they  have  no  place  in  a 
union." 


39 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"If  your  child  should  live  thirty  min- 
utes longer, "  I  said  to  Mrs.  Strong,  "the 
throat  doctor  of  Tour  One  will  be  here 
to  see  him." 

"There  is  no  hope  for  my  darling  boy, 
then,"  she  cried,  throwing  herself  sob- 
bing across  the  bed  on  which  the  dying 
child  lay. 

I  looked  at  the  little  fellow  for  a  mo- 
ment. "You  are  right,"  I  said;  "he 
will  not  last  ten  minutes  longer." 

Leaving  the  mother  with  her  darling 
treasure,  as  she  was  calling  him,  I 
thanked  Heaven  I  had  proved  so  reso- 
lute, and  looked  forward  with  compla- 
cent satisfaction  to  the  pleasure  of  being 
complimented  by  the  riding  delegate. 
Nevertheless,  this  occurrence  had  its 
effect  on  me.  At  this  time  I  was  not  so 
thoroughly  absorbed  in  the  union  that  I 
could  throw  off  the  feeling  of  a  certain 
amount  of  responsibility  to  my  fellow 
men.  Of  course,  now  I  see  my  mistake, 
and  recognize  that  my  responsibility  to 
the  union  and  its  principles  is  first,  to 
myself  second,  and  to  my  fellow  men  last. 
The  lesson  that  taught  me  this  came 
soon  after  the  affair  just  described.  It 

40 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

was  a  severe  experience,  but  I  do  not 
now  regret  it. 

I  had  thought  much  about  the  little 
fellow  I  had  seen  dying  of  croup,  and 
also  of  some  changes  which  I  considered 
would  be  an  improvement  on  the  present 
rulings  of  the  union.  These  changes  I 
had  not  worked  out  in  detail  thoroughly 
enough  to  present  to  the  authorities  who 
could  take  action  on  them,  but  I  had 
given  them  enough  consideration  to  lead 
me  to  suggest  an  idea  or  two  to  my  col- 
leagues one  night  as  we  sat  around  smok- 
ing while  waiting  for  calls.  I  noticed  as 
I  began  to  talk  that  my  associates  looked 
queerly  first  at  me,  and  then  at  one  an- 
other. Nevertheless,  I  proceeded  to  un- 
fold some  of  my  ideas,  pointing  out  just 
how  I  believed  the  union  could  be  im- 
proved, as  for  instance  by  leaving  many 
things  to  the  discretion  of  the  doctor  on 
hand,  until  the  doctor  to  which  the  case 
rightly  belonged  could  get  there.  The 
strange  looks  of  those  near  me  changed 
to  fright,  and  as  I  continued  still  further 
and  ventured  to  suggest  that  the  union 
was  altogether  too  hide-bound,  every 
one,  to  a  man,  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
rushed  out  of  the  room. 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

I  was  dumfounded.  I  looked  first  in 
one  direction,  and  then  in  another,  in  the 
expectation  that  I  might  see  them  all 
gathered  in  some  other  part  of  the  room. 
Finally  I  turned  toward  the  clerk.  The 
look  upon  his  face  startled  me.  It  gave 
me  the  impression  that  something  dread- 
ful had  happened. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  I  asked. 

' '  What  is  the  matter  ? ' '  said  he.  "  Poor 
fellow,  we  have  all  liked  you,  and  have 
done  everything  to  help  you  along,  but 
there  is  now  no  hope  for  you  as  I  can 
see.  It  would  have  been  better  for  you 
to  have  remained  on  your  desert  island. " 
As  he  said  this  he  shook  his  head  and 
walked  to  the  other  end  of  the  room  as 
far  away  from  me  as  possible. 

"But  what  have  I  done?"  I  asked. 
"And  why  did  all  the  doctors  rush  from 
the  room  with  frightened  looks  as  if  the 
very  devil  was  after  them?" 

"You  have  been  guilty  of  a  terrible 
crime,  and  you  will  find  out  all  about  it 
in  good  time, "  replied  the  clerk.  "  Now 
you  are  suspended  from  duty,  and  you 
must  go  upstairs  and  wait  for  the  riding 
delegate." 

"Dr.  Tobias,"  said  I,  "does  not  get 

42 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

here  until  ten  o'clock.  That  will  be  hours 
yet,  and  I  would  prefer  to  wait  here. 
You  say  I  am  suspended.  Who  will  take 
my  place  if  a  call  comes  in?  " 

"No  one  will  take  your  place, "  replied 
the  clerk.  "If  some  one  gets  sick  in  the 
chest  before  six  o'clock,  he  will  have  to 
wait.  You  must  go  upstairs  at  once,  so 
that  your  former  companions  may  return 
and  enjoy  the  comforts  of  the  room  from 
which  you  have  driven  them.  They  are 
waiting  outside  and  will  continue  to  wait 
until  you  vacate.  You  are  now  an  out- 
cast and  they  would  be  disciplined  if 
they  had  anything  to  do  with  you. " 

I  walked  upstairs  where  I  had  hours 
to  wait  for  the  riding  delegate.  The 
more  I  thought  the  more  perplexed  I  be- 
came. What  had  brought  about  all  this 
change  in  my  position?  I  tried  to  recall 
all  I  had  set  forth,  and  just  how  I  had 
put  it,  but  as  my  ideas  were  very  con- 
fused on  the  subject  I  had  talked  about, 
not  having  been  well  formulated  in  my 
own  mind  as  yet,  I  could  not  at  all  re- 
member my  exact  utterances.  More 
than  that,  I  could  not  understand  why 
such  great  objection  should  be  taken  to 
the  views  I  had  expressed. 

43 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

When  Dr.  Tobias  entered  his  office  I 
saw  by  the  wrinkled  brow,  firm  set  jaw 
and  flashing  eyes,  that  he  was  in  an 
angry  mood,  and  I  instinctively  felt  that 
I  was  probably  the  cause  of  his  dis- 
pleasure. On  that  point  he  did  not 
leave  me  long  in  doubt.  Taking  his 
seat,  he  eyed  me  sharply  for  a  moment. 

"Dr.  Schneider,"  said  he  sternly,  "sit 
down."  At  the  same  time  he  empha- 
sized his  words  by  hitting  the  desk  be- 
fore him  with  the  end  of  his  fore-finger. 
"I  do  not  know  as  you  are  so  much  to 
blame  as  we  are,  or  rather,  as  Dr.  O'Brien 
is,  for  taking  such  a  man  into  the  union. 
I  protested  at  the  time.  I  told  him  that 
you  had  been  away  from  America  too 
long;  that  you  had  not  grown  up  with 
union  sentiment,  like  those  who  had 
been  continuously  in  the  country.  But 
he  was  determined  to  have  you,  and  I 
was  beginning  to  think  his  judgment 
was  right,  after  all.  Now  comes  this 
blunder,  this  crime." 

"It  appears  from  what  I  have  heard 
and  seen,"  said  I,  "that  I  have  been 
guilty  of  some  offense.  Will  you  be  so 
kind  as  to  let  me  know  what  that  offense 
may  be?" 

44 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

"Offense,  offense?"  repeated  Dr.  To- 
bias, angrily.  "You  are  not  guilty  of 
an  offense.  You  are  guilty  of  a  crime 
Of  a  crime;  do  you  understand?" 

"No,  I  do  not,"  said  I.  "Of  what 
crime  have  I  been  guilty?" 

"You  have  not  only  been  guilty  of  a 
crime,  but  you  have  been  guilty  of  the 
greatest  crime  that  can  be  committed 
against  a  union.  You  have  dared  to 
hold  opinions  of  your  own,  have  dared 
to  think  for  yourself.  That  is  a  crime. 
Worse  than  that,  you  have  given  utter- 
ance to  those  opinions  in  the  presence  of 
union  men.  That  is  the  greatest  crime ! " 

"  Does  belonging  to  a  union  necessarily 
debar  a  man  from  having  opinions  of  his 
own?"  I  asked. 

"Debar  him  from  having  opinions  of 
his  own?"  exclaimed  Dr.  Tobias,  who 
was  now  so  agitated  that  he  jumped  up 
from  his  chair  and  began  pacing  the 
floor.  "Why,  man,  are  you  a  fool?  Of 
course  it  does.  That's  the  very  rock 
on  which  the  union  stands.  How  long 
would  unions  continue  to  exist  if  mem- 
bers were  allowed  to  have  opinions  of 
their  own,  and  give  utterance  to  them? 
Where  would  unions  be  in  two  years' 

45 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

time  if  members  were  allowed  to  think 
for  themselves?  When  a  man  thinks  for 
himself  he  begins  to  develop  individual- 
ity, and  individuality  is  the  one  thing 
that  unions  cannot  afford  to  tolerate. 
The  only  opinions  that  are  allowed  in 
unions  are  the  opinions  of  the  riding 
delegates.  That  makes  unions  secure. 
Because  people  thought  for  themselves, 
the  first  unions  in  this  country  failed,  or 
had  great  difficulty  in  maintaining  them- 
selves. Years  ago  the  average  American 
was  very  prone  to  think  for  himself.  He 
prided  himself  on  being  a  free  American, 
but  he  has  long  since  banished  such  false 
notions  from  his  head,  and  is  now  willing 
to  let  the  riding  delegates  do  all  his 
thinking  for  him." 

I  saw  at  once  the  reasonableness  of  Dr. 
Tobias'  remarks,  and  told  him  so  in  such 
a  straightforward  way  that  he  was 
clearly  impressed  with  my  sincerity. 
His  anger  disappeared,  and  he  again  took 
his  seat. 

"The  penalty  for  the  crime  of  thinking 
for  yourself, "  he  said,  "  is  expulsion  from 
the  union,  and  for  thinking  for  yourself 
and  giving  utterance  to  the  thoughts  in 
the  presence  of  other  union  men  is  ex- 

46 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

pulsion  first,  and — well,  the  culprit  is 
likely  to  be  found  dead  on  the  third 
block  from  the  office." 

Chills  ran  up  my  back  for  the  second 
time  as  I  now  recognized  the  enormity 
of  my  crime. 

"But,"  continued  Dr.  Tobias,  "I  see 
you  are  sincere  in  your  union  principles 
and  you  are  still  ignorant.  The  latter  is 
greatly  in  your  favor,  for  it  is  the  best 
qualification  a  good  union  man  can  have. 
You  stood  the  test  well  for  a  new  man  in 
that  case  of  croup,  and  I  believe  you  have 
in  you  the  making  of  a  thorough  union 
man,  so  I  will  modify  the  sentence  and 
fine  you  one  thousand  dollars.  You  will 
retain  only  just  enough  of  your  earnings 
to  pay  for  your  lodgings,  and  buy  your- 
self two  meals  a  day  until  the  thousand 
dollars  is  paid." 

"Then  I  am  to  go  on  duty  again?" 
said  I. 

"Certainly,"  said  he.  "How  other- 
wise would  you  be  able  to  pay  the  fine?" 

"To  whom  does  the  thousand  dollars 
go?"  I  asked. 

Dr.  Tobias'  eyes  flashed,  but  only  for 
a  moment.  "Well,  you  are  ignorant  of 
unions,  and  it  is  evident  we  must  still 

47 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

make  allowance  for  you, "  said  he,  con- 
descendingly. "The  fine  goes  to  the 
riding  delegates,  of  course. " 

"  Very  well, "  said  I,  "  I  will  live  on  one 
meal  a  day  until  you  have  the  thousand 
dollars." 

"That  sounds  like  it,"  said  Dr.  To- 
bias, more  cheerfully.  "That's  the  way 
I  like  to  hear  a  union  man  talk.  I  be- 
lieve you  will  come  out  right,  after  all. " 

We  do  not  always  realize  the  silent, 
persistent  force  there  is  in  the  advance- 
ment of  civilization  as  it  creeps  upon  us 
from  day  to  day.  It  is  our  environment 
which,  unseen  by  us,  shapes  our  course. 
When  I  first  saw  the  notice  in  the  New 
York  Chronicle  signed  by  Dr.  O'Brien 
and  Dr.  Untenheimer,  riding  delegates,  I 
was  shocked  at  the  idea  of  a  medical 
union.  Next,  I  was  surprised  at  the  lack 
of  interest  shown  by  the  doctors  in  the 
science  of  their  profession,  and  again  by 
the  restrictions  placed  upon  them  by  the 
rules  governing  their  actions.  No  sooner 
had  my  ideas,  or,  in  other  words,  the  way 
I  looked  at  things,  become  adjusted  to 
the  new  order  than  suddenly  there  came 
upon  me  this  trouble  with  Dr.  Tobias  for 
thinking  on  my  own  account.  It  was 

48 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

just  here  that  I  made  the  greatest  dis- 
covery of  all,  that  I  had  begun  at  the 
wrong  end  of  the  process  of  develop- 
ment, or  rather  learned  last  the  very 
thing  that  I  should  have  learned  first. 

The  whole  of  this  advanced  civiliza- 
tion has  for  its  foundation  the  one  idea 
Dr.  Tobias  expressed  to  me,  that  indi- 
viduality is  a  thing  not  to  be  tolerated. 
Had  I  learned  this  lesson  first,  I  would 
have  had  no  trouble.  Dr.  Tobias 
summed  up  all  my  difficulties  when  he 
said  that  he  had  protested  to  Dr.  O'Brien 
against  taking  me  into  the  union,  be- 
cause I  had  been  out  of  the  country  too 
long,  and  had  not  been  educated  up  to 
the  union  idea.  When  I  left  the  country 
individuality  was  a  thing  to  be  proud  of, 
and  people  took  profound  satisfaction  in 
having  ideas.  While  I  was  away  this 
had  all  changed  and  I  was  simply  unfor- 
tunate in  not  having  had  the  privilege  of 
cultivating  the  higher  civilization  along 
with  the  people  of  the  most  advanced 
country  in  the  world.  However,  I  had 
one  thing  to  be  thankful  for,  and  that 
was  that  I  had  such  a  considerate  riding 
delegate  as  Dr.  Tobias.  Nevertheless 
fortunate  as  I  was  in  this  respect,  I  cer- 

49 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

tainly  felt  it  was  most  unfortunate  that 
when  I  had  learned  my  lesson  well,  and, 
having  paid  to  the  riding  delegate  the 
thousand  dollars,  was  feeling  secure  in 
my  position  and  reaping  the  fruits  of  my 
work,  the  people  should  take  it  into 
their  heads  that  medical  unions  were  not 
conducive  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
country. 

I  was  lounging  about  the  office  one 
day,  when  a  doctor  who  had  just  come 
in  said  to  me: 

"Schneider,  you  must  have  been  born 
under  a  lucky  star." 

"I  have  never  been  impressed  with 
that  notion, "  said  I.  "On  the  contrary, 
I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  I  was 
born  under  a  very  unlucky  star." 

" Unlucky? "  said  my  associate.  "You 
are  the  luckiest  fellow  I  ever  knew.  You 
come  to  the  city  a  comparative  stranger, 
and  get  a  splendid  position  the  first  day. 
You  offend  the  riding  delegate  to  the 
degree  that  you  should  lose  your  head, 
and  you  are  only  fined  a  thousand  dol- 
lars and  allowed  to  go  on.  You  refuse 
to  break  the  rules  of  the  union  by  pre- 
scribing for  a  case  of  croup  and  let  the 
patient  die,  no  more  than  any  one  of  us 

50 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

would  have  done,  and  you  get  a  national 
reputation." 

"I  am  aware  that  I  was  very  fortu- 
nate to  get  a  position  so  quickly,"  said  I, 
"and  I  am  very  thankful  that  I  have  so 
kind  and  considerate  a  riding  delegate 
as  Dr.  Tobias.  As  for  the  national  repu- 
tation you  speak  of  I  am  at  a  loss  to  un- 
derstand what  you  mean." 

"Read  this  article,"  said  he,  shoving 
an  early  edition  of  the  morning  paper  to- 
ward me.  "  Just  think  what  those  head- 
lines are  worth  to  you." 

I  took  the  paper  and  read  in  great 
flaming  headlines: 

"DOWN  WITH  THE  UNIONS." 


"Another  Incident  of  the  Abuse  of 
Power  by  the  Riding  Delegates." 


1  Dr.  Schneider  Willfully  and  Maliciously  Lets  a 

Child  Die  of  Croup  Rather  Than  Break  a 

Silly  Rule  of  the  Medical  Union. " 


The  article  that  followed  first  severely 
criticised  our  union  for  having  rules  re- 
stricting the  freedom  of  the  doctors.  It 
then  attacked  me  for  not  having  man- 

51 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

hood  enough  to  break  the  union  rules 
and  prescribe  for  the  Strong  child.  It 
even  declared  that  I  was  a  pig-headed, 
ignorant  and  willful  ass,  and  not  a  fit 
person  to  be  a  doctor. 

"If  that  is  what  you  call  getting  a 
national  reputation,"  said  I,  "I  would 
be  glad  to  dispense  with  it." 

"What,"  said  my  colleague,  "you  are 
not  pleased  with  that  article?  Why, 
man,  I  would  give  my  whole  year's  in- 
come for  such  an  attack  on  me.  It  will 
be  the  making  of  you.  Nothing  will 
promote  a  man  so  fast  in  this  union  as  to 
be  attacked  by  the  public.  No  matter 
how  big  a  fool  or  rascal  he  may  be,  let 
the  public  denounce  him  enough  to  war- 
rant a  cry  of  persecution,  and  his  future 
is  assured.  That  attack  is  bound  to 
make  you  a  riding  delegate,  and  who 
knows,  it  may  make  you  governor." 

Mrs.  Strong,  with  a  supposed  griev- 
ance, because  I  refused  to  prescribe  for 
her  child,  and  let  it  die  in  order  that  the 
principles  of  our  union  should  be  main- 
tained, started  the  whole  affair.  That 
pleading  woman,  who  was  on  her  knees 
before  me,  became  a  tremendous  force. 
She  organized  a  Mothers'  Protective  and 


3  J  J  '•> 
I  £  V  H  < 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

Anti-Union  Society.  The  members  of 
the  Society  finally  won  a  few  independent 
newspapers  over  to  their  way  of  thinking. 
Independent  newspapers  are  a  nuisance. 
If  there  is  a  great  upheaval  in  the  coun- 
try, a  disturbance  of  the  serenity  of  the 
public,  a  turning  out  of  a  lot  of  officials 
just  when  they  have  got  nicely  fixed 
in  position,  and  are  becoming  rich 
through  the  office,  ninety-nine  times  in  a 
hundred  it  is  the  work  of  independent 
newspapers.  Such  things  ought  not  to  be 
allowed  in  a  civilized  country  like  this. 
A  riding  delegate  should  be  placed  over 
every  newspaper  office  to  do  the  think- 
ing for  the  editors. 

Of  course,  we  union  men  smiled  at  the 
credulity  of  the  people  who  were  fighting 
us  in  the  belief  that  they  would  be  able 
to  destroy  our  organization.  We  sim- 
ply cut  off  from  our  visiting  lists  the 
members  of  the  Mothers'  Protective  and 
Anti-Union  Society  and  the  editors  of 
the  independent  newspapers,  and  went 
on  as  usual. 

Still,  we  were  very  much  surprised  to 
discover  that  this  action  on  our  part  had 
no  effect  in  forcing  the  Society  to  dis- 
band, and  the  independent  newspapers 

53 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

to  change  their  views.  Despite  the  boy- 
cott the  membership  of  the  Society  in- 
creased with  alarming  rapidity,  and  the 
independent  newspapers  became  more 
violent  in  their  attacks  upon  us.  How- 
ever, we  did  not  worry,  as  we  still  had 
many  expedients  to  fall  back  upon. 
Presently,  an  order  was  promulgated 
throughout  the  entire  United  States  to 
discontinue  vaccination.  Smallpox  be- 
came epidemic  in  many  places.  This,  we 
thought,  would  bring  the  people  in  line, 
but  instead  it  acted  like  oil  on  a  bonfire. 
There  was  a  greater  increase  than  ever 
before  in  public  sentiment  against  us. 

The  independent  newspapers  renewed 
the  attack  on  me.  They  gave  my  his- 
tory; they  called  me  bad  names;  they 
said  I  did  not  know  the  difference  be- 
tween a  case  of  delirium  tremens  and 
the  Aurora  Borealis.  Every  attack  they 
made  was  another  round  on  my  ladder 
of  fame.  The  union  men  all  knew,  as 
my  associate  had  intimated  they  would, 
that  if  the  newspapers  attacked  me,  I 
was  of  the  right  sort  to  be  a  leader. 

Dr.  O'Brien  sent  for  me. 

"Schneider,"  said  he,  as  I  entered  his 
office,  "  I  congratulate  you.  I  knew  there 

54 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

was  the  right  kind  of  stuff  in  you.  I 
think,  on  general  principles,  it  would 
have  been  better  to  wait  a  little  before 
electing  you  a  riding  delegate,  but  the 
clamor  became  so  strong  that  we  could 
not  resist  it." 

"Am  I  a  riding  delegate?"  I  asked. 

"That  is  why  I  congratulated  you," 
said  he.  "  It  was  a  sure  thing  after  the 
last  attack  upon  you.  Any  man  who 
could  get  up  such  a  disturbance  as  you 
have,  is  certainly  worthy  of  promotion 
in  a  union." 

The  next  step  taken  by  the  riding  dele- 
gates was  to  order  a  general  strike, 
every  physician  to  lay  aside  his  medicine 
case  and  every  surgeon  his  scalpel.  Dr. 
O'Brien  said  to  me: 

"Schneider,  we  will  have  about  two 
weeks'  vacation.  Then  the  people  will 
come  to  us  on  their  very  knees,  and  beg 
for  the  strike  to  be  declared  off." 

Imagine  our  surprise  when  sentiment 
against  the  union  became  stronger  than 
ever.  The  public  ignored  us  altogether. 
They  said  they  would  have  none  of  us, 
even  though  they  all  died.  The  situa- 
tion certainly  did  look  critical,  when, 
after  three  months  of  the  strike,  sta- 

55 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

tistics  showed  that  the  death  rate  in  the 
country  was  only  fifty  per  cent,  of  what 
it  had  been  for  three  months  immedi- 
ately previous.  The  time  had  come 
when  something  decisive  must  be  done. 
The  union  must  be  maintained  at  any 
cost.  A  meeting  of  the  riding  delegates 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  was  called. 
Our  sessions  were  held  behind  closed 
doors.  On  the  third  day  of  the  meeting 
a  general  secret  order  went  out  for  every 
bacteriological  laboratory  in  the  coun- 
try to  be  put  in  commission.  The  order 
directed  that  the  entire  capacity  of  these 
laboratories  should  be  devoted  to  the 
culture  of  the  germs  of  the  bubonic 
plague.  On  the  fourth  day  another 
general  secret  order  was  sent  to  all  the 
chapters  to  collect  the  rats  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  send  them  to  the  bacterio- 
logical laboratories. 

The  issue  now  was  clearly  drawn.  It 
was  the  life  of  the  people,  the  life  of  a 
nation,  against  the  life  of  a  union.  The 
people  had  settled  down  to  the  belief  that 
the  strike  was  virtually  over,  that  we  had 
been  whipped,  and  that  the  riding  dele- 
gates were  only  waiting  for  some  plaus- 
ible excuse  to  declare  the  strike  off.  The 

56 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

independent  newspapers  who  gave  them- 
selves the  credit  for  having  done  such  a 
good  work  for  humanity,  as  they  put  it, 
had  in  nearly  every  issue  humorous 
articles  on  our  riding  delegates.  We 
said  nothing.  We  had  ceased  to  talk 
to  the  people.  We  were  receiving  daily 
cipher  dispatches  from  all  the  bacterio- 
logical laboratories  in  the  country,  and 
were  ready  to  act.  Finally,  the  prepara- 
tions were  completed,  and  secretly  from 
the  laboratories  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  on  the  evening  of  the  eighth  of 
June,  1942,  two  million  rats,  bearing  in 
their  veins  the  germs  of  the  bubonic 
plague,  were  set  free. 

Ah,  you  willful  people,  who  think  for 
yourselves!  You  would-be  union  smash- 
ers !  You  self-selected  critics  of  our  rid- 
ing delegates,  see  what  you  have  brought 
upon  yourselves!  Will  you  longer  flout 
the  statistics  of  fifty  per  cent,  decrease 
in  the  death  rate  in  our  faces? 

At  first  the  nature  of  the  disease  was 
not  suspected,  but  the  mortality  was  so 
great  that  it  soon  became  apparent  to 
everyone  that  a  severe  plague  had  broken 
out  all  over  the  country.  In  less  than  a 
month  whole  families  were  no  more,  vil- 

57 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

lages  and  cities  were  swept  off  the  map, 
entire  counties  were  depopulated,  and 
powerful  States  became  mere  fragments 
of  their  former  greatness.  The  medical 
profession  possessed  the  only  serum  that 
would  cure  the  plague.  Home  remedies 
or  simple  methods  as  opposed  to  radical 
methods  ignorantly  used,  as  some  of  the 
independent  newspapers  were  wont  to 
put  it,  when  commenting  on  the  reduced 
death  rate  of  fifty  per  cent.,  did  not 
work  here. 

At  last  the  people  came  to  their  senses. 
They  asked  the  privilege  of  meeting  the 
riding  delegates.  Inasmuch  as  they 
had  a  special  grievance  against  me,  it 
was  thought  fitting  that  I  should  pre- 
side at  the  conference.  It  would  make 
their  humiliation  a  little  greater  to  re- 
ceive commands  from  me.  The  com- 
mittee of  the  citizens  came  before  us, 
and  they  were  most  submissive.  Their 
speaker  started  in  with  a  harangue  in 
the  form  of  an  argument. 

"Stop,"  said  I,  putting  up  my  hand 
in  a  meaning  way.  "  This  is  no  time  for 
argument.  You  should  know  that  unions 
are  not  to  be  argued  with.  Arbitration 
is  no  longer  an  article  in  our  By-Laws. 

58 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

If  you  really  want  the  strike  declared  off, 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  by  you  is  to 
make  an  abject,  humble  apology  to  us 
for  having  presumed  to  question  the  wis- 
dom of  unions.  If  that  apology  is  satis- 
factory to  us,  we  will  dictate  terms." 

The  speaker  hesitated  for  a  moment, 
and  conferred  with  his  associates,  and 
then,  giving  way,  started  in  with  the 
apology. 

"Stop,"  said  I  again.  "Every  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  must  signify  his 
acquiescence  in  this  apology." 

There  was  a  brief  hesitation,  but  in 
less  than  thirty  seconds  every  one  joined 
in  supplication  to  us.  The  speaker  evi- 
dently had  not  expected  to  be  called 
upon  for  an  apology,  and  had  not  pre- 
pared himself,  as  he  gave  only  a  sort  of 
rambling  talk,  in  which  "we  apologize," 
and  "we  are  very  sorry, "  occurred  often. 
After  a  little  prompting  by  Dr.  O'Brien, 
which  he  took  most  meekly,  assenting 
to  everything  the  riding  delegate  set 
forth,  the  apology  was  finally  concluded 
in  a  satisfactory  manner.  Then  I,  as 
chairman,  propounded  two  questions: 

"First,  do  you  admit  that  this  union 
is  a  great  blessing  to  humanity?" 

59 


MEDICAL  UNION  NUMBER  SIX 

They  all  bowed  assent. 

"Second,  do  you  consider  the  riding 
delegates  great,  noble  and  good  men?" 

Their  heads  went  low  again. 

"The  strike  is  declared  off,"  said  I. 
And  the  committee  of  the  people  de- 
parted with  great  rejoicing. 

The  lesson,  however,  was  a  severe  one. 
Sixty  millions  of  people  died  in  less  than 
one  year;  all  manufactories  were  de- 
stroyed; railroads  were  grown  over  with 
weeds,  and  their  engines  were  rusting 
out.  Commercial  supremacy  was  gone, 
and  the  greatest  nation  on  earth  was  re- 
duced to  a  tenth  rate  power.  Of  course, 
there  was  nothing  left  for  the  doctors, 
but  the  principles  of  the  union  were 
maintained. 


60 


DATE  DUE 


PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 


II-76A532    3 


wz 

303     King 


2959^ 


Medical  union  number 


TITLE 


2959** 


WZ 
305 


King 

Medical  union  number  six 


1963 


(ICI  CCM  LIBRARY 


